Rancor abounds in District 67 House race

By JEREMY WALLACE H-T Political Writer

Monday

Jun 28, 2010 at 12:01 AM

Questionable résumés, charges of political nepotism and residency issues have combined to make the Republican primary race for Florida House District 67 one of the wildest and most expensive in the state.

"It's been like this from the start of the campaign," said Greg Steube, an Army veteran and one of the three Republicans running in the Aug. 24 primary.

After a debate last week in Lakewood Ranch, Steube said with absentee voting starting in just five weeks, he expects the race only to get rougher.

"I did not think it was going to be this negative when I first got in," Steube said.

With no incumbent in the race because State Rep. Ron Reagan, R-Bradenton is term-limited out, the open seat has become a magnet for candidates looking to break into politics. In all, five candidates -- three Republicans, a Democrat and one independent -- are running to represent the sprawling district, which stretches from Riverview in Hillsborough County, picks up high-growth areas around Apollo Beach and Parrish and most of Manatee County east of U.S. 301, including Lakewood Ranch. It also includes a large part of Sarasota County, east of Interstate 75 and north of Clark Road.

The wide-open competition for the GOP primary has ratcheted up the intensity of the race, which in turn has the candidates, all political newcomers, on the defensive.

Almost as quickly as Steube, 32, got into the race for the district more than a year ago, his opponents began questioning his candidacy. They complain that he is only running because his father, Brad Steube, is the current sheriff in Manatee County and is pulling political strings for him.

"People are tired of nepotism and legacy politics," Bob McCann, a part-time emergency room doctor and lawyer who is one of two Republicans challenging Steube for the Republican nomination.

It's not just McCann accusing Steube of being a product of "machine-style" politics of Manatee County. Jeremiah Guccione, who helps run seven assisted-living facilities in Manatee County, has also criticized Steube. Earlier in the race, Guccione's campaign manager mockingly questioned if the Steubes sat around their kitchen table hashing out plans to complete their political takeover of Manatee County.

Steube acknowledges his family name has opened a lot of doors politically, helping him land endorsements from congressmen, state legislators and regional political stalwarts. But Steube said he has earned the support with his grasp of issues and public policy.

"It can open the door, but people aren't going to get behind your campaign if you don't have a message," said Steube, an attorney. "They are both just grasping at straws."

Meanwhile, McCann, who has a doctor of osteopathy degree, has been playing his own defense against charges he is inflating his résumé. McCann says in his campaign mailers and handouts that he was once a finalist for U.S. Surgeon General, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, and Assistant U.S. Secretary of Health. McCann said he applied for all three positions under President George W. Bush.

The Bush administration never publicly released a finalist list for any of the three positions and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the agency cannot confirm or deny whether McCann was a finalist for the positions.

McCann said his evidence is in letters from notable elected officials, including former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris and former White House adviser Karl Rove, that say they submitted his name for consideration for each of the positions at his request. McCann provided a letter from 2001 from HHS which thanks him for his application for surgeon general, but tells him the president has chosen someone else.

It reads like a form letter rejection. McCann, 52, insists it is not because of one key phrase: "Please be assured that you were given every consideration, and we were impressed with your background," in the March 22, 2002 letter signed by Regina B. Schofield, then the director of Office of the White House Liaison.

Since the other campaigns have been questioning his claims, McCann has put a copy of the letter on his campaign Web site.

McCann, who worked for a Sarasota weight-loss clinic last year, would have been the first doctor of osteopathy ever named surgeon general -- the nation's top public health advocate. The nation's 18 surgeon generals have all had doctors of medicine degrees.

McCann, a Navy veteran, said others connected to the Bush administration have also told him he was a finalist for the positions, though there is no independent documentation backing up the claim.

Guccione, 33, has also had to play defense in the race. Guccione, who was living in Sarasota before 2008, is defending himself against charges that he only moved into District 67 after he decided to run for the office.

Guccione admits politics did play a role in his moving, but it was not the only factor. Guccione said prior to going off to college, he lived in what is now District 67 for a decade. When he returned, he lived in Sarasota, though he commuted to Manatee County, where he helps run assisted-living facilities that his family owns.

"I've had my boots on the ground in this district longer than everyone else in the race," Guccione said.

Guccione does not complain about the tough charges being leveled in the campaign, saying they will help clarify the candidates and the issues.

Doing so will not come cheaply. The candidates have combined to raise $467,627 -- the most of any of Florida's 120 House districts.

The winner of the Aug. 24 primary election will face Democrat Z.J. Hafeez, an attorney, and Bradenton resident John Studebaker, an independent.

The winner receives a two-year term and an annual salary of just under $30,000.

Jeremy Wallace can be reached at 361-4966 or jeremy.wallace @heraldtribune.com.

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